Evil Dead 4: Live Till Sunrise
by Taidel
Summary: He cut his girlfriend to pieces with a chainsaw, made evil a thing of the flesh and was almost King... Now Ash fights the evil in his own world. Hail to the King, baby.
1. Survivors

Disclaimer: Okay, so I don't say all the beginning lines - exactly. And obviously I am not Sam Raimi or Bruce Campbell or Rob Tapert, so don't sue me if YOU are, since I gave you credit for the production of three of the greatest horror/comedies of all time. (As a matter of fact, if you are, call me, let's discuss the screenplay of this.)  
  
This isn't my usual genre, and it's a lot shorter in chapters than usual, just a fun thing I'm writing.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER ONE - SURVIVORS  
  
"You know that story about how you almost became king?"  
  
I look up at the broad before me - long, white legs, huge tits barely covered by her too-small sweater, inquisitive blue eyes under short red hair - and my mouth hangs open in awe.  
  
"Well, I think it's kinda cute," she adds with a come-hither smile.  
  
And then it starts - again. The lights in the S-Mart flicker and a scream rends the air. I turn, and the shopper in the aisle behind us has stopped, frozen, and is slowly turning.  
  
Another damn Deadite. I guess my work is never done. She tosses me like a sack of potatoes, then rips the cash register from the outdoor department readying to slam in atop my red-head's cranium.  
  
The S-Mart is like millions of S-Marts around the country, a huge superstore with aisles upon aisles of goods ranging from furniture, to sporting goods, to house wares - that's me.  
  
It's the Sporting Goods section I want to hit now, to go after good old Mr. Double-barrel, who has always been my friend things when like this go on. I break open the gun case and grab the shotgun and some ammo. I leap onto a cart and start firing at the Deadite, over and over again. But the bullets have no effect.  
  
Wait a minute, I think. Déja vu.  
  
And it didn't happen this way.  
  
That's the last thing I remember thinking before she leaps, claws bared, screaming, "I'll swallow your soul."  
  
  
  
He jerked awake, his eyes wide open. A few concerned faces looked back down at him. He understood immediately what the cause of their concern was and lowered the walnut-stocked shotgun he had raised in their direction.  
  
"Sorry," he said, chuckling.  
  
"It's okay, Ash," the redhead chuckled back. Her nametag, barely showing from around one ample breast, said "Alicia." "I think I'd be pointing that thing everywhere, too."  
  
The rest of the motley assortment didn't look quite as convinced as Alicia did. A tall, skinny guy with glasses, light brown hair, and a membership card to the Pocket Protector Club looked dumbfounded. A huge hulk of a man, dressed in the jeans, tee-shirt, and flannel of the grunge persuasion, was looking at Ash with an eyebrow raised, his intense blue eyes boring into Ash in a very discomforting way. A small girl sat in the back corner, filing her nails, keeping to herself. She was wearing a black mini-skirt and a black sleeveless shirt, and her dark tangle of curls was tucked over her left shoulder. She was ignoring the whole thing.  
  
Ash put the gun aside and rose, his S-Mart smock falling to the floor from its previous vocation as a blanket. He dusted off his typical blue button- down and jeans. He looked at his surroundings - a huge room, columns of boxes on loading pads all over, each carton displaying some name brand or another.  
  
"Why am I in the storeroom?" he asked cocking an eyebrow over a dark brown eye.  
  
"Oh," Alicia giggled nervously. "Herb asked us to bring you back here after you passed out. So he could evacuate the customers."  
  
Ash shook his head, disbelieving. "I passed out?"  
  
Finally finding his voice, Pocket Protector stuttered, "Wow, man! That story about becoming king. that was for real?"  
  
He cringed when Ash met his gaze. "Do you think I would lie to you, Bill?"  
  
"I - I guess not," Bill shrank back, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.  
  
Ash turned to the tall guy.  
  
"What about you, Shawn?" he demanded. "Any questions?"  
  
Shawn just held up his hands and took a step back. All of this was very calm. He was twice Ash's size, and could easily take him down in a fight. Even the gun didn't seem to make him nervous.  
  
Ash ignored this, even though he felt a little intimidated. The gun was comforting to have, not just because of the undead. He headed over to the girl in the corner. She didn't look up as he approached.  
  
"So what happened to the book when you went back in time?" she asked before Ash had a chance to say anything.  
  
Ash stopped. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
"Was the book destroyed?" Now she looked up, her eyes shifting colors, from green to gold and back. It was even more discomforting than Shawn's nonchalance. "Obviously not, if the Deadites are back."  
  
Since she was so obviously right, Ash reacted the only way he knew how in this situation - meaningless anger. Especially since he'd left out part of the story.  
  
I'm all right, Ashley. It's your sis-ter Cher-yl.  
  
"Well hello Miss Smarty Pants!" he exclaimed. "You know, I think I know a little more about this than you do!" He looked her up and down. "Hey, I don't know you!"  
  
The girl in the black dress held up her hand. "Don't bother with the gun, Ash," she said. "I'm just a shopper who got caught in this shit, and decided to help out."  
  
"Well, didn't you see the sign on the door?" Ash strode over to open the door, turned back to her, and pointed to the sign on the door's face. "It says 'Employees Only.' That means you - " he pointed first at her, then out the door. "-out."  
  
"I'm not going out there," she retorted, sounding amused and going back to her nails.  
  
"Why the hell not?" Ash demanded, not noticing the panicked looks of the other three as they backed far away from him.  
  
"Because I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, your boss is at the door."  
  
"And the bad news is?" Ash asked aloud, turning to look.  
  
As he gazed deep into the eyes of a rotting corpse-creature that vaguely resembled his robust and red-faced boss, Herb, the girl finished, "He's dead." 


	2. The Girl in the Black Dress

CHAPTER TWO - THE GIRL IN THE BLACK DRESS  
  
"Sorry, Herb,"  
  
Ash emptied several rounds into his old boss, exploding his head and chest in a rainbow spray of blood. Satisfied that the creature was dead, he turned on the girl in the black dress.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded for the second time.  
  
"I'm Zoe," she replied. "I go to school over in Asheville. I was passing through on the way back to school. And you could say thank you."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"You killed it, didn't you?" Zoe rolled her eyes and went back to her nails.  
  
Ash gestured his three co-workers to the side. Alicia was paler than usual, and Bill was shaking. Shawn looked disturbed, but Ash decided he was too dumb to be scared.  
  
"Have you ever seen her before?" he asked them.  
  
All three shook their heads.  
  
"Nice rack, though," Shawn observed, looking over at her.  
  
"Oh, please," Alicia retorted. "She looks like another of those gothic vampire-witch wanna-bes."  
  
"As opposed to a Daisy Duke-wearing redneck airhead?" Bill said, giving Alicia a look that showed he clearly meant her.  
  
"I am not a Daisy Duke. whatever you said!" Alicia cried.  
  
"Will you two shut up," Ash shook his head. "News flash - there are demons running about, and we don't even know that the store is safe."  
  
"Oh, the store is safe, now,"  
  
Everyone turned at the sound of Zoe's voice.  
  
"Excuse me?" Ash asked as she approached.  
  
"I am not gothic, or a vampire, or a wanna-be," Zoe exclaimed, venom in her voice as she looked at Alicia. "But I am a witch. And I just cast a spell. The store should be safe, but I don't know how long I can hold it, so whatever we're going to do, we need to hurry."  
  
"You cast. a spell?" Ash asked, his laughter, simultaneous with Bill's, coming too fast for him to contain. Zoe shrugged.  
  
"Fine. Don't believe me," she said, and walked out of the storeroom.  
  
Still laughing, Bill asked Ash, "Should we follow her?"  
  
"Sure," Ash shrugged. "I need more ammo."  
  
Ash walked out first, with Alicia and Bill hanging on to his every move. Shawn brought up the rear, his huge figure towering above them. However, they all stopped dead.  
  
They could see, at the other end of the aisle, Deadites crowded around the front entrance, peering inside through the glass. Inside was well-lit, and silent. A quick check through the store, followed by his newfound shadows, revealed a few corpses, but no Deadites. Just Zoe.  
  
"Hi!" she popped out at him cheerfully from around the grocery aisle, munching on a piece of chocolate cake.  
  
Ash caught his breath, letting his guard down. "Never do that to a man with a gun," he said.  
  
"Pretty nifty spell, huh?" Zoe replied, her lips brown with chocolate.  
  
"Yeah. Sure. Groovy," Ash replied. "How long did you say we had?"  
  
"Well, if you're gonna grab ammo, you'd better do it now," Zoe said. "And fill a few backpacks up with food, some bandages, first aid stuff."  
  
"Are we going camping?" Bill asked, looking up at Ash.  
  
"No," Ash looked at Zoe, narrowing his eyes. "Where ARE we going?"  
  
"Someplace with more people,"  
  
"This is North Carolina, there's no place like that here," Alicia cried desperately.  
  
"Well, we can't stay here. We need to find somewhere with more people. living ones," Ash said. "There's more safety in numbers. How do you know so much about this?" This last was directed at Zoe.  
  
"I heard you telling the story to Bill," she replied. However, the manner with which she busily began collecting the bottled water in their aisle bespoke other sources. Ash decided not to press the issue; survival was the first priority.  
  
"Alicia, why don't you help Zoe gather food," he said. "I'll go get some other gear. Bill, get a cart for us. Shawn - "  
  
Everyone looked up in alarm as Ash suddenly stopped talking. Since no one could see him anywhere, Alicia asked the obvious: "Where's Shawn?"  
  
They all began calling for him, spreading out as if to fan through the store, when Shawn turned up. He was pushing a cart into the massive central aisle of the store, casually propping a few shotguns over his shoulder. The cart was loaded down with assorted rifles, shotguns, ammo, archery equipment, and camping gear, as well as a myriad of household items that included cleaners, bleach, several boxes of assorted cooking and cleaning powders, and a lot of PVC piping.  
  
"Thought we might need a few things," he announced.  
  
"We're not moving into a house, Shawn!" Alicia replied.  
  
Ash grinned. "You're not as dumb as you look," he said, striding over to the tall man.  
  
"Who said I looked dumb?"  
  
The stern gaze Shawn was emitting said, Tell me, so I can go step on them. Ash decided he wasn't going to press it.  
  
"Uh, no one," he said. "Where'd you learn all this stuff?"  
  
"Home," Shawn said, monotone.  
  
"Ah," Ash nodded, inwardly wondering what kind of home life Shawn must have to know how to make so many explosives out of household items. "You must have lived with MacGuyver."  
  
"Yeah, that's it," Shawn replied, neither his face nor his tone budging an inch.  
  
"Well, we need to get some first aid supplies, and the ladies are getting food, and that's about it," Ash said, turning and changing the subject. Then, with a start, he added, "No, wait! If there are Deadites about, I have to get my sword!"  
  
Shawn's face finally moved, his eyebrow raising with interest.  
  
"Sword? You mind if I get mine?"  
  
Ash grinned his patented Ash grin. "I'll bet yours is nothing like mine."  
  
"No, not if you're right-handed," Shawn agreed, prompting a glare from Ash.  
  
"And I suppose you're going to call me 'Stubby,' too, right?" he quipped.  
  
"No. Righty."  
  
Ash gave Shawn a long, even glance. He was dressed like a typical redneck farmboy, like everyone else, except his tee-shirt, rather than being plain white, advertised some science fiction event that had taken place in neighboring Knoxville. It couldn't even be read too well, so it really wasn't noticeable.  
  
However, Ash decided he was going to keep an eye on Shawn nonetheless. Redneck farmboys didn't learn to make home explosives unless they were in paramilitary groups, and Ash had already tried to form one of those; this wasn't that kind of town. Everyone everywhere was intimidated by Ash, except Shawn, and that Zoe chick, but give her time.  
  
Shawn, however, had worked at the S-Mart nearly as long as Ash had, usually in his official-looking guard's uniform. That he still wore the pants told Ash he had changed clothes somewhere along the line, making him wonder how long he'd been out cold. And why he'd passed out to begin with.  
  
It bothered him for the same reason Shawn's total lack of intimidation bothered him - he wasn't used to it. He didn't pass out. Everyone was scared of him, ever since he came out of the woods that separated North Carolina from Tennessee. What was Shawn's story that he was so blasé?  
  
Ash hated surprise enemies. He hoped Shawn was a friend. 


	3. A Wall of Deadites

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just wanted to thank everyone for their reviews, and note a couple of things. First off, Asheville is a town in North Carolina that is near the Tennessee border. If you haven't seen Evil Dead 1, I highly recommend it, mainly because Sam, Bruce and Rob made it by themselves without help from Hollywood. However, in the beginning, you see a (crappy) map Ash is holding that delineates the NC/TN border, and Ash even comments that they'd just crossed it. My assumption was always that they were leaving NC, and since they're within driving distance of the cabin, that they lived in or around Asheville. But yes, I did note the irony. Secondly, I would like to assure everyone that none of these guys are Mary Sues, but please be patient, because they might come off that way at first. All I can say is trust me, as I've had this huge saga planned for months now, and have only recently gotten around to committing it to paper. I promise you that I would never insult the Gods (ie Sam, Bruce, and Rob, and all the demi-dieties surrounding them) by doing something like THAT. :) Anyway, happy reading! On to...  
  
CHAPTER THREE: A WALL OF DEADITES  
  
Feeling fully prepared now, all five turned their attention to the front doors of the S-Mart, where a sea of the demon-zombies seemed to be waiting for them to come be dinner. Gaping maws and blank white eyes peered in at them, most of them moaning. A few were issuing threats and descriptions of what would happen to them when they came out in high, shrill voices.  
  
Alicia shuddered. "Please don't let them eat my soul," she said to Ash.  
  
"It's just talk, baby, just talk," he assured her, nodding once to emphasize his point. With a sigh, he told himself, "I did it with sixty primates, I can do it with five real people with guns."  
  
So he wasn't too happy when Shawn grabbed the axe he'd taken from the fire alarm. The bow and arrows, Zoe's choice of weapon, didn't please him, either.  
  
"What the hell are you doing? We've got guns!"  
  
Zoe ignored him, but Shawn turned and gave him a huge lopsided grin, his eyes sparkling. Ash just shook his head.  
  
"We're all gonna die," he said to himself. Then he started for the door.  
  
Bill and Alicia both grabbed and loaded guns as Ash started firing at the incoming wave of the Necronomicon Ex Mortum's finest. A dozen of them rushed in all at once, but three went down as Ash fired wildly at anything that was cackling. In an impressive display of whirling and twirling, Shawn took the head and arms of two more of the ghastly creatures. Zoe's arrows were aimed true, turning two more into pincushions with shots of three arrows per round. Alicia watched all of this with awe, everything moving in slow motion. One came screaming, running at her with claws bared, its face a ghastly scowl and its stench permeating her nose and making her eyes water.  
  
Suddenly its head exploded and a shower of black blood erupted over her and Bill. She squealed and looked to see that it had been Bill that had saved her.  
  
Taking the head of the line, Ash and Shawn were making progress out the door. As more and more Deadites tried to come at them, they exploded in a shower of blood and dismembered body parts. Shawn was moving like a Cuisinart, his axe laying waste to multiple demons at a time. He looked like a Viking berserker, his mouth wide open in a long loud war-cry that Ash couldn't make out over the din of screeching monsters. He was shooting, kicking, and butting them with the end of his gun, smashing them about any way he could.  
  
One managed to grab his throat and he stuck the muzzle of his rifle under its chin. But when he pulled the trigger, not a thing happened. In panic, Ash head-butted the creature, with no luck. He tried to grab the strong claws that were around his throat, gasping for air that wasn't coming. Suddenly the creature was abruptly ripped away from him, and he looked up in time to see Shawn toss it over the crowd, giving him a wild-eyed grin.  
  
"Ammo!" he shouted back to Alicia. She looked in the cart and grabbed the ammo box, tossed it back to him. He looked at the box for a second only to see it was the wrong caliber. He tossed it back to her.  
  
"The .3030 ammo!"  
  
Flushing in her frustration, Alicia found it and tossed it to him. In the meantime, three more Deadites met the butt-end of his rifle. He dropped behind Shawn when he caught the second box of ammo, reloading, and pleased to note that Bill had moved up a little. He was out the door with Ash and Shawn, shooting at anything that advanced. Even Alicia had managed to fire off a few rounds, and she even hit one.  
  
Zoe had dropped behind the rest of the group, and seemed to be sleepwalking. The bow had been replaced in the cart, and her mouth was moving.  
  
"Zoe, what the hell are you doing?" Ash cried out.  
  
"She's chanting," Alicia rolled her eyes.  
  
Ash shook his head and jumped back out, fully reloaded. He started firing at more of the Deadites, but they'd seemed to get the hint, and were giving the group about a yard's distance.  
  
"Yeah, didn't think so." He nodded; job well-done.  
  
"Where are we going?" Bill wondered after taking another shot that resulted in his being doused with green goo.  
  
Ash pointed to a parking space right in front of the store. The cream- colored car that occupied the space had certainly had seen better days. It was a 1973 Delta 88; it was dented and scratched; primer showed through the paint and a big dent in the passenger side made getting in that way dubious. The hood had obviously been welded together, and had a big bulge right in the center, and the rear bumper was missing.  
  
"My car," he said.  
  
"THAT'S your car?" Shawn exclaimed. "Oh, god, we're dead!"  
  
"Listen, asshole, that car has seen more of these bastards than you're looking at right now, so either you ride with me or you stay here and see if one of these guys will lead you to safety."  
  
"Um... guys?" Alicia ventured from behind them. All three men turned to look at her, and she gestured to Zoe, meekly explaining, "Zoe doesn't look so good."  
  
This was an understatement. Zoe's body was starting to quiver, and her eyes were rolling up. Her chanting grew louder, but was occasionally interrupted by the cxhattering of her teeth as she twitched spastically.  
  
"We've got to get her to the car," Shawn observed, racing to her side.  
  
"Give it up!" Ash shouted to his back. "She's probably already one of them!"  
  
Shawn spared him a venomous glare as he scooped Zoe's body off her feet and carried her toward the car. As they pushed through the crowd of Deadites, Ash began to notice that they were closing the gap and not giving the human survivors as wide a berth. He glanced with narrowed eyes at the trembling figure in Shawn's arms, his eyes narrowed with reservation.  
  
As the others reached the car, Bill glanced at the huge blue sign above the crash barrier.  
  
"Uh, Ash?" he said uncertainly. "This is a handicapped space."  
  
Ash held up the stump of his right arm with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah. It is."  
  
"Get the door open! She's losing consciousness," Shawn insisted.  
  
As he unlocked and opened the passenger door - which was much easier than one would suppose - he said to the big man, "I'm telling you, she's history. Her rack isn't worth it."  
  
Ignoring him, Shawn laid Zoe out on the front seat. As he loosened her clothing, he said, "She's about to have a seizure."  
  
"Shawn, we got bigger problems than her," Ash replied, warning in his voice.  
  
Shawn looked at him, his mouth working as though about to say something. Finally he shook his head and continued with his task.  
  
The gunfire was starting again; Bill and Alicia were shooting as the creatures reached out to grab and swipe at them. Ash crossed around to the back of the car and flung open the truck. He, Bill and Alicia started emptying the contents of the shopping cart into the trunk, fitting them in around the already-present jungle of books, comics, clothes, spare tire, and what looked to be a cloak. They each took turns firing shots at the wave of Deadites, but the monsters were still keeping their distance, even as that distance was closing.  
  
Somewhere in the midst of the confusion, Shawn appeared, grabbed one of the laden shopping bags, and brought it back to Zoe.  
  
Finally, they all piled into the car, and none too soon. Whatever wall had held back the demons finally collapsed, and they converged on the car with renewed force. The engine roared, and Ash threw it into reverse with tires squealing. From the back seat, where Shawn had moved her, Zoe moaned. It was a bumpy ride out of the S-Mart parking lot as Ash indiscriminately hit anything that moved, and several of the beasts fell to the might of three tons of Detroit steel. Then the Delta found pavement, and the road, and the group drove in silence for a while.  
  
Finally, Zoe stirred.  
  
"Sugar..." she breathed, panting. Shawn dug through the bag he'd grabbed and handed her a bag of cookies. She opened the bag and started shoving them in her mouth, unheeding of crumbs that clung to her lips or fell to her lap.  
  
"Hey, can I have one?" Alicia asked. Zoe clutched the bag to her chest, growling feraly. Alicia turned to Ash and whined, "Why should She get to eat all of them?"  
  
"Because I said so," Shawn answered for him.  
  
"What do you care, anyway?" Bill snapped at the big man. Shawn made no response, just sat and looked out the window. Ash watched the entire exchange in silence, wondering what the answer was. He fixed his eyes on the dark road and they continued along.  
  
More time passed by in silence, with only the trees, cliff-faces, and the occasional farmhouse passing by. It seemed like an eternity, an eternity in darkness.  
  
"Where are we going?" Alicia wondered aloud. Her voice was quiet, shaky.  
  
"To the high school," Ash replied.  
  
"Why?" Bill exclaimed incredulously. "That's clear across the county! Lengthwise!"  
  
"Because there's a bomb shelter underneath it," Ash said, his voice hopeful. "And if there are other survivors, I bet that's where they'll be."  
  
"Except for the ones who got stuck in their out-of-the-way farmhouses!" Alicia cried. "That happened to my aunt Barbara up in Pennsylvania - "  
  
"Well, this is North Carolina," Ash snapped. "And we're going to the high school."  
  
Nobody argued, and the tense silence continued all the way to the high school. 


End file.
